How to Improve the First-Year Students Motivation in Learning Matrices

Abstract

Linear algebra is one of the fundamental courses included in the curriculum of all mathematical, engineering and economic specialties. Students study the subject during the first semester. At this early stage in their education, they cannot realize the connection of the discipline with the specialized subjects. This demotivates the students and they do not make any effort to absorb and assimilate the material. The purpose of this article is to show at least a small part of the applications of Linear algebra in computer science, using only some basic concepts and thus to motivate students for more in-depth understanding of the material in the course. The article takes into account that not all first-year students have a good knowledge of programming. That’s why the software used to illustrate the examples in the article is Matlab. It’s a matrix-based software. Built-in graphics make it easy to visualize and gain insights from data.